Cutting cylinder



J. F. FIEZELL 3,521,514

CUTTING CYLINDER July 21, 1970 Filed Jan. 22, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR.

k/arz/w/f 0:21:24

y 1970 J. F. FIEZELL 3,521,514

CUTTING CYLINDER Filed Jan. 22, 1968 V 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR.

United States Patent Oflice 3,521,514 Patented July 21, 1970 ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A cutting cylinder having the knife boxes therein offsetfrom the centerline by approximately one-half the width of the knifebox.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a cutting andfolding mechanism for a printing machine folder unit and moreparticularly to the design of the cutting cylinder, sometimes referredto as the male cutting cylinder.

In the typical folding and cutting arrangements as shown for example inthe Dietrich Pat. No. 2,985,449 and in the Jordhoy Pat. No. 1,977,283,there is provided a cutting cylinder having at least one knife box onits periphery which carries a cutting blade sandwiched betweencheekwoods for cutting the web as it is carried around the foldingcylinder sometimes referred to as the female cutting cylinder. Thelongitudinal axis of the cutting blade has always been aligned with acenterline of both cutting cylinders when the cutting action iscomplete.

This arrangement of aligning the cutting blades along the centerline hasbeen found to be ineflicient and has presented difficulties in cuttingheavier webs or thicker layers of webs. With the blade on the centerlinethe webs are cut by a crushing action, resulting in what amounts to abreaking of the webs. Consequently, as the cutting cylinders rotate, asideways pressure is exerted on the cheekwoods contributing to the noiseproblem caused by the cheekwoods banging against the inside wall of theknife box. Further, the breaking and crushing of the paper generatesdust which is undesirable as this has a tendency to contaminate both theprinting ink and the atmosphere. As the thickness of the webs or thenumber of layers increases the amount of resistance to the crushingaction is increased and as a result the sideways pressure on thecheekwoods is increased. As a result of the increased sideward pressurethe cheekwoods are caused to operate sluggishly and cannot thereforeperform their function of holding the paper taut.

A further disadvantage of the centerline cutting is that the firstlayers of webs are out before the axis of the cutting blade is alignedwith a centerline of the folding or female cutting cylinder and the lastlayers are cut either at the same time the axis of the blade is alignedwith the female cutting cylinder or after it has passed. This type ofaction results in an angular cut and might cause the thick wad of paperto fan.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioneddisadvantages by providing a male cutting cylinder having a constructionwhich relieves the sideward pressures exerted on the cheekwoods of theknife boxes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved malecutting cylinder construction the result of which is a more direct cutthereby reducing the amount of paper dust.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedcutting cylinder construction which overcomes the difiiculties incutting through heavier webs or thicker wads of webs.

Another object of this invention is to alleviate the noise caused by theaction of the cheekwoods.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be apparent from the following detailed description inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic section of a folder arrangement in which thepresent invention is employed;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the folding and cutting couple presenting apreferred embodiment by which the present invention may be realized;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the cutting couple showing therelationship of the knife box with respect to the cylinder centerline ata point where cutting of the web begins to take place; and

FIG. 4 is the same view as in FIG. 3 showing the relationship of theknife box with respect to the cylinder centerline at a point wherecutting is completed.

, DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THIS INVENTION The drawingsshow the present invention incorporated in a typical 3:2 folderarrangement as shown for example in Pat. No. 2,985,449. This inventionhowever, may be used equally as well in standard 2:1 folder or any otherfolder arrangement requiring a cutting cylinder. The paper web W comesfrom a former folder 11, through entry rollers 12, pulled bypull-through rollers 13 and 14, and guided by pinch rollers to thefolding and collecting mechanism comprising male cutting cylinder 17 andfolding or female cutting cylinder 18.

The folding cylinder 18 is of the type shown and described in Pat. No.1,900,288. This cylinder comprises a plurality of pins 19 which piercethe web and carry it around the periphery of the cylinder in the usualmanner while the cutting blade 26 cuts the web and the folding blade 20tucks the web into folded form which is then folded off by foldingrollers 21 into its final folded form 22. A cutting rubber 28 is alsoprovided to receive the blade 26 as it pierces through the web. Thefolded papers can then be carried by a delivery fan 23 onto the deliverytable 24.

The present invention resides in the novel structure of male cuttingcylinder 17. This cylinder has on its periphery at least one knife box25 of the conventional design running the length of the cylindercomprising a cutting blade 26 sandwiched between a pair of cheekwoods27. In the 3:2 folder a pair of knife boxes is required and other folderarrangements might require more. The axis of the cutting blade of theknife boxes has traditionally been aligned along a centerline of themale cutting cylinder. The present invention; however, provides for theaxis of the cutting blades to be offset from the centerlineof thecutting cylinder by a distance of approximately onehalf the width of theknife box. The axes of the two blades on the 3:2 folders areconsequently spaced apart from one another by a'distance ofapproximately the width of a knife box, are parallel to each other andare approximately equidistant from the center of the cylinder. It ispossible that a male cutting cylinder might have more than two knifeboxes on its periphery equally spaced apart. In these situations theblade axis of each knife box would be offset from the center of thecylinder by an equal amount. It is to be understood; however, that thisis only one of many arrangements of offsetting the knife box and it isnot here intended to limit the arrangement to the one described above.

In FIGS. 3 and 4 the knife box 25 is shown as being offset from thecutting cylinder centerline 29 by an exaggerated amount so that theoperation may be more easily understood. It can be seen in FIG. 3 thatwhen the cutting action begins, i.e. blade 26 begins to pierce the webW, the axis of the blade 30 does not pass through the center of thecylinder 17, but is parallel to the centerline 29 which passes throughthe centers of both the male cutting cylinder 17 and the female cuttingcylinder 18. As the cylinders continue to rotate in the direction of thearrows carrying the web W with it the cutting action continues untilultimately the blade 26 has completely severed the web and pierces thecutting rubber 28 as shown in FIG. 4. At this point the axis 30 of theblade 26 is at an angle to the centerline 29 passing through the centersof both cylinders rather than being aligned therewith, as would be thecase in the traditional cutting cylinders. If the axis 30 of the blade26 were to pass through the center of the cylinder 17, as in traditionalcutting cylinders, the result would be that the longitudinal axis of theblade would form an angle with the centerline 29 when the cutting beginsand would be aligned with that centerline when cutting is complete. Thisresults in an angular cut of the web and the crushing or breaking actioncausing many of the problems discussed above. The construction of thecylinder 17, as provided by the present invention, reverses thearrangement of relationship between the axis of blade and the centerlineof the cylinders during the cutting action resulting in a square cut ofthe webs and a true cutting action thereby reducing the cutting forcesand pressures on the cheekwoods reducing the noise problem. The squarecut also helps solve the paper dust problems as well as increasing theefficiency of cutting thicker wads of paper.

While the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to acertain preferred embodiment which gives satisfactory results, it willbe understood by those skilled in the art after understanding thepurpose of the invention that various other changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionand it is therefore intended to cover all such changes andmodifications.

What is claimed is:

1. In the folder mechanism of a printing machine the combination of afemale cutting cylinder having at least one cutting rubber with a malecutting cylinder having at least one knife box located on the peripheryof the said male cutting cylinder, a pair of cheekwoods and a cuttingblade sandwiched therebetween within said box and extending beyond thesurface of the male cutting cylinder to coact with said rubber forsevering layers of paper webs passing between said male and femalecutting cylinders, the longitudinal axis of said cutting blade beingoffset from the center of said male cutting cylinder by a distance ofapproximately one-half the width of the knife box, whereby the knifeengages the paper to commence the cut while the knife axis is spacedfrom and parallel to the common centerline of the cylinders, continuesto approach the rubber while its said axis passes through a positionradial to the female cylinder, and then completes its cutting movementtoward the rubber with its said axis at an angle to said commoncenterline.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of knifeboxes are provided on the periphery of said male cutting cylinderequally spaced apart and having their blade axis offset from thecylinder center by an equal amount.

3. The combination according to claim 2 wherein the blade axes areparallel to each other when only a pair of knife boxes are provided.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,418,115 5/1922 Wheeler 83-346 X1,685,532 9/1928 Bechman 83-345 X 3,086,416 4/1963 Minarik 83-345FOREIGN PATENTS 423,871 2/1935 Great Britain.

WILLIAM S. LAWSON, Primary Examiner J. F. COAN, Assistant Examiner

